‘Wonder what I might think about what?’ asked Declan, clutching his pink letter as Alice opened the door.
‘Sorry, I’m late, and I did mean to reply to your note,’ he told Alice as he stepped inside. ‘Then the time seemed to just run away with me, and I admit I forgot.
‘Hi,’ he addressed the group around the table, and Maisie, who was sitting playing with a couple of dolls on the sofa, said hello and that he ought to try some strawberry cake.
‘I might just do that.’ He smiled. ‘So, what have I missed, then?’ He turned to Alice. ‘I thought I heard you say something about my reaction to something.’
‘You heard that as I approached the front door? Oh dear, these walls really are paper thin,’ said Alice.
‘Which means you might have to be careful what you get up to,’ Mark said laughing, and Carol laughed too. Declan’s face flushed. ‘Playing loud music and the like,’ Mark quickly added, and Alice could not help but smile.
‘Do come and sit down,’ said Alice. Declan took a seat at the far end of the table, opposite Jess and Carol.
Alice filled him in on the news.
‘Oh, and I forget to mention, I am halving your rent,’ she told her friends.
‘Alice, you can’t do that,’ said Declan. ‘Being able to stay here is enough. I can’t believe it.’
‘But I insist. It will give you the option to save. In a few years, you may have a deposit for a place of your own. But whatever you decide, I know it will help you,’ said Alice.
He shook his head, hardly able to take it in.
‘Declan, it will give you some security as you are soon to become self-employed. And I hope you don’t mind, but I wonder if you might take responsibility for the payment of the rent and the communal charge.’
‘Of course,’ he agreed, still feeling shocked.
‘And, Jess, the reduction in rent means you could save for Maisie’s future, or whatever you wish. You must have the garden flat of course, for Maisie, when I am no longer here,’ she said matter-of-factly.
‘Oh, Alice,’ whispered Jess.
‘And, Mark, I assume you will want to stay here? I know you have all become great friends.’
‘There is nowhere I would rather be,’ he said, his voice breaking.
The tears of gratitude that Jess had been holding in spilt over then as she stood and embraced Alice.
‘You don’t know what this means,’ she said, wiping a tear away from her eye. ‘Thank you.’
‘Oh, I think I do.’ Alice smiled, happy that Jess had had the good grace to accept the tenancy.
‘Alice, are you absolutely sure about this?’ asked Declan, but if he was honest, she was right. It was exactly the security he needed whilst setting up by himself.
‘Why would you do this for us?’ asked Jess, still teary.
‘Ah, why. That is indeed the question,’ Alice said as she leant back in her chair.
At Alice’s request, Mark went to retrieve her favourite malt whisky from a cupboard.
‘Many years ago, I was given a chance in life.’ She sipped her whisky as she spoke. ‘This was once our family home, as you know, but we lost it,’ she told them.
‘What happened?’ asked Mark tentatively.
‘My father had crippling debt.’ Even after all these years she felt a lump in her throat as she spoke. ‘Which was unbeknown to my mother for a long time.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Watching the horse racing was his passion. I went along myself as a young child,’ she reflected. ‘When the war broke out the racing stopped, apart from at Newbury Racecourse. He would often travel there, which he would explain away as a business trip. He invested a lot of money in a racehorse.’
It wasn’t hard for the friends to anticipate what was coming next.
‘It didn’t perform as promised, and he lost everything. Including the house. We managed to find a rental a mile away. I don’t think my mother ever got over it,’ said Alice wistfully.
